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Phenolic is easy to machine with carbide woodworking tools. You could easily make your own. A fresh-cut edge is razor sharp, so be careful.

I assume this is for the 2400 (which I think is actually 3/4", the difference between that and 19mm is 5 hundreths inch)? Commercially available bars I'm familiar with are steel, for better wear. Incra miter bars fit my 2424, and are very nice.

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Phenolic is easy to machine with carbide woodworking tools. You could easily make your own. A fresh-cut edge is razor sharp, so be careful.

I assume this is for the 2400 (which I think is actually 3/4", the difference between that and 19mm is 5 hundreths inch)? Commercially available bars I'm familiar with are steel, for better wear. Incra miter bars fit my 2424, and are very nice.

Dave<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The 2400 is 19mm. Would steel be better than Phenolic?

I wanted to go phenolic for a couple of reasons...

1) I assume the price is cheaper and quality is relatively comparable to steel. Of course steel will last longer. I'm not sure how long phenolic parts last, but if we're talking 2 years for phenolic versus 5 years for steel w/ the phenolic being $1-2 and the steel being $10-15 then anyone can do that math...

2) I want phenolic flexibility (cutability would be more accurate) for various jigs such as a Tenoning Jig, Featherboards, Wood Feed jigs, etc.

Bubba

[ 11-19-2001: Message edited by: Bubba Blue ]

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Just a thought, but you may want to check out the "specials and close-outs" or some such tag over on www.woodpeck.com. Down at the bottom of that page (good deals on router table tops along the way) is a listing for Craftsman miter bars. I bought 4 of these at $5.00 each. They are 20" long and have several 1/4" and 5/16" holes tapped near each end. Basically these are slightly undersized steel bars with punched ridges every half-inch along both sides so you can file or wear them into the correct fit (sort of a commercial version of the dimpling technique). I tweaked one to fit the well-worn left miter slot and another to fit the less-worn right slot.

BTW, they are longer than the "standard" Craftsman miter gauge bars and the holes do not line up for the two old gauges I have.

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I would expect the price of phenolic to be much higher than steel. Gary gives a good lead to find the miter bars.

For jigs and such, a different animal. Sheet phenolic is an expensive, but deluxe answer for flat goods. High quality ("Baltic Birch" type) plywood is a lot less expensive. How much less? Off the top of my head, you could probably buy 10 square feet of 1/2" Baltic Birch for about the same price as 1 1/2 or 2 square feet of 3/8" phenolic.

Dave

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On the miter slot size issue, just to clear things up. The slots are 3/4" or exactly .75, meaning you will need a miter bar that is slightly less than .75. 19mm is the same as .7480" or 20 thousands different than 3/4".

Almost all aftermarket miter gauges and jigs have an adjustable bar so fitting it to the miter slot is not a problem. The only accessory that I know of that will cause a problem is a Delta Tenoning jig.

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Tim there is no chance of ruining your miter slot with the tenioning jig.

To give you a little background we set our slot at 3/4" and tolerance the bar down to fit, while Delta sets their bar to 3/4" and tolerances the slot up to fit, so if you get a Delta bar and our slot they are exactly the same size and therefore will not fit. It sounds like you found one where the tolerances allow it to fit.

Almost all aftermarket accessories have adjustable bars so there is no problem their, its only the Delta (and JET) specific items that cause a problem.

Jake

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Jake,
You got me curious so I got out my dial indicator and discovered a few things: 1) You are right, 2) I'm lucky, and 3)my friend is bummed. The slot on my TS2424 is exactly .750 inches wide. Another great job on the tolerances from Ridgid and chalk up another in the "proud owner" column. My Delta Tenoning Jig's bar is .749 inches. As luck would have it a manufacturing quirk from Delta is to my benefit. The buddy of mine who loves my jig just bought one for his older Craftsman saw and sure enough his bar doesn't fit his slot. I relayed the info from this board about doing a little sanding to his bar and he's going to give it a try. Thanks again!

- Tim

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Tim - another way to get a good fit of a Delta spec to a Ridgid/Craftsman slot is to use that slot for 25+ years and many, many miles of travel. The Deltas, etc., fit nicely in my old Craftsman's left (most used) slot, but not in the right one. OTOH, the original miter gauge bars, etc. are now way too loose in the left slot without serious peening.

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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JSchnarre:The only accessory that I know of that will cause a problem is a Delta Tenoning jig.
[ 11-20-2001: Message edited by: JSchnarre ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To clear this up further, I just purchased some Jig material (UHMW Plastic) from a local woodworking store ($2/ft) came home and tested it in the slot and it fits, no problem!